A tragic hero is virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for a downfall. The hero learns from his mistakes and is the protagonist in the story. To be a tragic hero the character must display the elements of a Greek tragedy. In the play ‘Antigone' by Sophocles, Creon forbids Polynices to be buried because he fought with his brother for the throne and wanted the throne to destroy Thebes. Antigone; Polynices sister tries to bury him and Creon has her captured for a punishment.
Unique Tragic Hero A hero does not need to be good, he just need to be the winner. In ancient time, Greek tragedy was not only a form of entertainment but also a tool to make people embrace The Gods. It endues emotions such as pity and fear in the audience that the protagonist’s affliction may happen to them. Thus, a tragic hero is extremely crucial to promote such emotion. Medea, an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides has Medea, a female character as the tragic hero.
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles about a man who tries to escape a prophecy from coming true but ends up fulfilling it instead. Oedipus, the protagonist, is destined to kill his father, Lauis and to marry his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus soon discovers that all this time he has been in denial and leads to his own destruction, gauging his eyes out. With this, Sophocles, knowing that his audience already knows the outcome of the play, uses that knowledge to create situations that involve verbal, dramatic, and situational irony that keep the audience on the edge and also to develop the characters in the play. Accordingly, this play sends a strong message of fate and free will to the audience.
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle was accredited to the phrase "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." This man watched his whole life unfold in front of him and his life ended in the most tragic way imaginable; with him being alone and unloved. All the tragic heroes studied portray these characteristics in terms of their downfall. There are many characteristics that identify Jay Gatsby as a tragic hero. Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include greatness, a weakness or a flaw, an undeserved fate, and a punishment exceeding the deed committed.
He says ‘just then I had an odd idea. Like Vulich, I decided to put fate to the test’, here he risks his own life in order to test the boundaries of fate and to satiate his reckless tendencies, this in more associated with a Byronic hero than a traditional one who does things for the greater good. A Byronic hero can be conceptualized as an extreme variation of the Romantic hero archetype. Traditional Byronic heroes tend to be defined by their rejection or questioning of standard social conventions and norms of behaviour, their alienation from larger society, their focus on the self as the centre of existence, and their ability to inspire others to commit acts of good and kindness. Byronic heroes are not idealized
Statement: ''According to Aristotle, the tragic hero should not be entirely good nor evil. Instead, he should possess a fatal flaw, which will incite pity and fear in the audience. Critics are divided about Othello. Some feel that he is flawless, while others think that he is too easily moved to jealousy. What is your view on the matter?''
A tragedy is a story of a person’s demise brought on them by the specific flaws in their character. The “Tragedy of Othello” by William Shakespeare tells a story of deceit and revenge. Othello, the central figure of the play, is a man noble to his country and people. He is an amazing character, a tragic hero, who has befallen to undeserved misfortune and folly. While it may seem, that the tragedy of Othello was caused by the evil villain Iago, I believe that he was not the only one to blame.
A Tragic Hero Ambition is a good servant, but a poor master and the only way to control ambition, is to have self control. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a once virtuous man, who when corrupted by power and greed is driven from his status as well respected warrior, to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth’s gluttony, pride, and ambitions led him to turn into an unstable, callous man who would stop at nothing just to gain power. His greed to achieve more power resulted in the merciless killings of his king, best friend, and other innocent civilians. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life, “They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, / But bear-like I must fight the course,” (V, vii, 1-4).
If the boy is proud, outrageously proud, then he believes the reason behind the rejection is a failing of his, or a weakness in his character. No matter how much the girl explains, the proud boy will persist, the proud boy will continue to find ways to fix the problem. This kind of excessive pride blinds the boy to the reality of what the girl is telling him. In Ancient Greece, this pride was called hubris. Hubris destroys people, it can blind people to the reality of their situation and leads them to their downfalls as shown by the characters in Sophocles’ plays Antigone and Oedipus Rex.
Initially a humble King of Thebes, Oedipus becomes agitated in realizing his futile attempts to avoid his tragic fate. Oedipus eagerness for discovering the truth about his origin despite the negative outcomes embodies the noble, yet tragic flaw of any good king. The Shepherd’s avoidance of the Oedipus’s questioning exhibits the Shepherd’s strong rationality during this scene. He hesitates in revealing the truth to prudently protect himself and Oedipus from repercussions of reality. The Shepherd insists that the revelation of the truth will result in destruction, “I will be destroyed even more if I do talk” (line 1184).